


Older, Wiser.

by longhairshortfuse



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: F/M, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Time Loop, spoilers ep56 The Homecoming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-17
Updated: 2014-10-25
Packaged: 2018-02-21 13:47:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2470457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/longhairshortfuse/pseuds/longhairshortfuse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Earl is sure of his history. Cecil was his best friend, he was nineteen for<i>ever</i> until things suddenly changed for the better.</p><p>So why was Cecil babbling about him being a scout?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Not Nineteen.

Earl paused for a fraction of a second, imperceptible to Cecil and his listeners, as he considered how to react. _Don't_ he decided. _He can't know. I shouldn't know. Nobody deserves to know that._ He smiled and laughed and answered Cecil's questions. There was another conversation he wanted to have, one where he asked the questions, but this was not the right time. 

It was never the right time. 

After the show, Earl indulged in nostalgia. He remembered. Mostly he remembered Cecil from high school graduation so long ago. It hurt, he confessed to himself, that Cecil did not remember graduation, after the orange milk and innuendo that led to... well, no point torturing himself with that sweet, one-sided memory. If Cecil couldn't remember, could he be sure it even happened?

Nineteen. Earl remembered being nineteen very clearly indeed. He thought himself lucky at first, maybe for the first couple of decades. _Wow! Who gets to spend so long at a point just approaching the cusp of their physical prime?_ But sometime in the third decade being nineteen began to get a little _old._ So sure of adulthood, so rarely recognised as man rather than boy. College was fun though. He had as long as he needed to complete his catering course and get a job as a chef. There appeared to be no hurry to advance his career.  
 _Perhaps that is why I am a good chef_ Earl mused. _So much patience, so much time to practise._

One day he had woken up older. He still had his job, the one he felt like he'd had for about fifty years. He hadn't noticed the sudden ageing, he had turned up at work as usual and fielded questions about _looking tired_ and _kid kept you up again?_ He thought nothing of it, his workmates at the restaurant pranked each other often. Earl assumed an organised attempt to make him question reality.  
He caught sight of his reflection in the side of polished steel pan.  
He was no longer nineteen.  
Earl stared at his reflection, felt the lines on his face, the beginning of slack skin on his jowls, and laughed aloud.  
At the end of his shift, after cleaning up and closing, he went home. He let himself in quietly to the house he lived in alone.  
"Hey honey, we waited up to say goodnight. Sweetie, come and say goodnight to daddy." 

Earl was confused.  
"Busy night, honey?" The woman in his living room stepped over and stroked his face.  
"Yeah, I guess."  
He looked at the child holding its arms up to him, reached down and picked it up. It had his hair colour, his eye colour, her face shape, a perfect hybrid of their features. He held the stranger-child, closed his eyes.  
Earl didn't know why, but he knew he would die to protect it.  
He smiled, kissed its cheek and whispered _goodnight, sweetie._  
The woman smiled at them both then took the child from him, saying something about it being long past every sane person's bedtime.  
As soon as she was out of the room, Earl began a frantic search for any clue to her name. Her identity was clear.

She returned as Earl was looking through a photograph album.  
"Oh Earl, honey, put that away. You need sleep.  
He smiled and did as she asked. He had seen enough, photographs of them, photographs of them with a baby, with a toddler and then with that beautiful child.  
Not a single picture of him as a nineteen-year-old.  
The woman walked over and put her arms around his waist. Hesitantly, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. She snuggled closer and he stroked fingers through her hair as she rested her head against his shoulder.  
"Mmm, perhaps you are not as tired as I thought."  
She raised her face. Earl kissed it. 

It was almost two weeks before he learned the name of his wife and kid. 

Earl slipped into this new era of his life comfortably. Being loved was the best fix. He barely thought about his past lives, childhood with Cecil, the horror of being a teenager for so intolerably long.  
Then, "Earl, you should do this."  
She slid a newspaper page towards him, tapping a small paragraph near the fold.  
 _Competition! Win the chance to work at the latest LaShawn venture! Celebrity chef LaShawn Mason plans to open a new restaurant in Night Vale and is looking for local culinary talent..."_  
"Oh honey, I couldn't. A cooking competition? Me? Really?"  
"You totally could, Earl. You used to talk about Night Vale all the time. If you won we could move back."  
 _This is not Night Vale? That explains a lot!_  
"What's wrong with living here?"  
"Nothing really, but you hated Desert Bluffs when we moved here. I thought you would jump at the chance..."  
"Yeah, I should give it a chance. I do miss Night Vale." 

Of course he won. LaShawn was so impressed with his _chicken roulette_ and his _Clydebank "Heartstopper" Pie-in-a-blanket_ that he quietly offered him a job before the competition was over.  
They moved back to Night Vale. And Cecil. 

They met in the foyer of _Tourniquet_ one evening. Earl watched from the doorway as Cecil ate his sandwich. That was just... so _Cecil._ He grinned, stifled a giggle, put on his serious face and went out to say hello to his first love for the first time in over a century.  
A chat led to a proper meeting. Just for coffee.  
A proper meeting led to an idea.  
An idea led to an invitation to do a cookery segment on Cecil's show.  
The invitation led to a revelation.  
Earl was uncomfortable about his forbidden information. 

Just when had he been a scout? 


	2. Filling In the Blanks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Earl asks Cecil to help him catch up with events he knows nothing about. Like scout ceremonies.

Life was good. Earl loved his family. Despite not remembering how he had acquired a wife and kid, he was a good father. He had made a decision that first day not to spoil a good thing. There was a woman who loved him and looked after him, forgave his deficient memory, and a child who adored him without question. Why would he spoil his life, and theirs, with a careless _and who are you, exactly?_

The matter of Cecil's accidental revelation disturbed him. He had to know more about _he was taken to another world during a boy scout ceremony._  
Earl called Cecil. Eventually. They arranged to meet on a rare day off after Earl dropped his offspring at an approved learning institution. Earl chose to meet at the park. Cecil was sitting at a picnic bench when he arrived. Earl touched him on the shoulder and swung into the seat opposite his friend. 

"Hey, thanks for meeting me."  
"No problem, Earl."  
Cecil wore his smile on a tired face.  
"Are you okay, Cecil?"  
"Yes, yes of course. I don't sleep well without..."  
Earl reached over and squeezed Cecil's arm, just for a second. Cecil shook himself slightly and smiled more easily.  
"Sorry."  
"It's okay. We've both had a hard time."  
They sat for a moment in silence. 

"You know I've been... absent for a while. What has been happening with you?"  
Cecil rolled his eyes. Had he found the one person in Night Vale who didn't know his personal life?  
"Last time we met, right before the Eternal Scout ceremony, I was _secretly_ in love with Carlos the scientist. You knew that, right?"  
Earl nodded, mouth open. _Eternal Scout? What the hell...?_ "Yeah?"  
"Well, we got together. We live together. Lived together."  
 _Scout? What did that have to do with him?_ "Oh, did you guys break up?"  
Cecil frowned quietly for a few seconds.  
"No, no not that. We're still together. Very much together. Except we don't see each other. He got trapped, like you did."  
"Trapped?"  
"Yes. In an alternate dimension or something. But you came back, so he can come back, right?" 

Earl tried to hide his confusion and his pain at not being able to reassure his friend. He resorted to another useless arm squeeze. Cecil rubbed his face, looked down for a moment then met Earl's concerned gaze.  
"Sorry. It must have been hell. You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to."  
Earl sighed, relieved with the escape route.  
"No, I'd rather not talk about that. Cecil, I am so sorry about," he paused, wanting to get it right, "Carlos."  
"Thanks." Cecil tried on another smile that didn't fit right. "So what happened to you?"  
Earl smiled. "I was nineteen, like I said, then..."  
"Scouts."  
"I guess. Then one day I went home and found I wasn't a teenager. I was older, I had a wife and a kid and a job as a chef. It was... sudden. Yeah, sudden. But when I look at that kid, I know it's all right. I have to be all right."  
"That's quite a responsibility." 

"So, Cecil. Umm. I... forgot a lot of things. From before. Maybe you can help fill in some details for me?"  
"Sure, Earl, anything I can do, if it will help."  
"I don't remember any scout ceremony. I don't even remember being a scout."  
"Oh! You were Scoutmaster! Scoutmaster Harlan, the bravest man in town!"  
Earl shook his head slowly. He looked to the side, watched the trees for a while, deciding how much he could stand to know.  
"I don't remember any of that. Can you tell me about it?"  
Cecil smiled. This time it looked right. "Sure, Earl, what is the last thing you remember?"  
Earl smiled, shook his head clear.  
"Being nineteen." 

They sat in silence again.  
"You were a scout. The best. You helped me with my badges. I really looked up to you."  
"How old was I when I became scoutmaster?"  
Cecil shrugged then frowned at the wooden table slats.  
"You're the same age as me so you must have been... about... umm..."  
Their eyes met and held.  
"I don't know. You looked older, I thought that was from experience, all those camping trips and being outdoors in the sunshine day after day. It's not good for your skin. And your scars, have they faded?"  
Cecil took Earl's wrist and turned his arm over one way then the other, then repeated with the other arm.  
"I don't have any scars, Cecil."  
"You did, on both arms, looked like burn marks. Parallel lines. You joked that they were tiger stripes for camouflage." 

Earl rolled his sleeves down and buttoned his cuffs.  
"Hey, Cecil? I think I can get you a table tomorrow night, if you don't mind eating early and maybe sharing a table?"  
Cecil looked at his friend with an expression that made Earl forget his wife for a moment. His voice went up an octave.  
"Really? No kidding? That would be so... so... NEAT!"  
Earl couldn't help but laugh despite his reeling head. He stood up to go.  
"Okay, stop by the restaurant at five. Chef Mason is trying out a new menu on some of his favourite customers. I happen to know one of them has real bad throat spiders and is confined with an armed guard to make sure he doesn't break quarantine. Maybe I can get you a table in his place."  
Earl stiffened slightly, just for a moment, as Cecil hugged him and said thank you, then returned the embrace. A memory of being nineteen and telling rude jokes by moonlight knocked him sideways.  
"I'll see you later, I guess. Is there a dress code?"  
Earl opened his mouth, shut it again, and smiled.  
"You always looked really good in those furry pants. Do you still have them?"  
He wasn't quite sure of how to interpret Cecil's expression as they parted. 


	3. Family

Cecil went home a little confused, brain throwing questions at him by the handful.  
 _Why can't Earl remember being a scout? What happened to his scars? He was proud of those! Made up silly tales about how he got them for anyone who asked. Why can't I remember graduation and why "you always looked really good..." Nice compliment but how does he know about the furry pants? Why does he look a decade younger and so much happier than on the day of the scout ceremony?_  
Unfortunately his brain did not throw in any answers. 

Earl also went home confused. _Why would I say that? We had our moment, after graduation. That was us. The furry pants, why ask him to wear his date outfit? Perhaps he won't turn up. He must sense something is wrong. I have this life now, not that one. It's not what I chose for myself but it is, it should be, good enough._  
When he got home, he busied himself with domestic chores until it was time to collect his beautiful child from school and choose something to make for family dinner. 

"Oh wow, Earl, were you upset today?"  
"What? Honey, why do you think that?"  
She laughed.  
"I have never seen the place sparkle so much. You always clean when you're stressed. Look at you now."  
Earl realised he was holding a cloth and pulling the knobs off the hob to clean out the crumbs from under them. He smiled.  
"Yeah, I guess I needed a distraction. Everything is fine though, really. Isn't it, sweetie?"  
The child agreed with an enthusiastic nod, remembering the huge ice cream at White Sands and daddy helping out with making the swing go higher than anybody else's until the ice cream threatened to reappear. 

Later, once the kid was in bed and drowsy from bedtime stories and a little too much dessert, she asked again.  
"Come on, you can tell me what's up. You've not been the same these past few weeks. Is it work?"  
"No, honey, really it's fine. I love my job. It's just..."  
 _shitshitshit no going back now_  
"Just what?"  
She slipped an arm around her husband's waist.  
Earl sighed.  
"I have this weird feeling that nothing is quite right, unreal. It only stops when I look at our kid, and I know that everything is as it should be. I met Cecil again this morning and..."  
"You met Cecil? Again?"  
Within seconds, his wife had left the room and he stood alone staring at the oven as footsteps creaked the stairs. 

Earl finished reassembling the hob and went upstairs.  
"Honey?"  
He listened for a reply. There was none. He heard quiet breathing from the kid's room then he moved on to his, their bedroom. He went in. She sat on the bed.  
"Honey, what's wrong? What did I do?"  
"You promised. We both did. We would never see old flames. Have you forgotten? Why we left Night Vale? You hadn't mentioned Cecil for so long, or the scouts. I thought you were over it all and it was safe to come home."  
Earl sat heavily on the floor, his legs unable to hold him up.  
"Honey, I have no idea what you are talking about."  
"Shit, Earl, ah shit." She shook her head slowly. "You hear the stories, but you always think of them happening to other people. Come here."  
Earl shuffled over to sit on the floor between his wife's knees as she searched through his hair. She found what she feared, a geometrical pattern of tiny healing burn marks. She slid to the floor beside him, held him tightly, her head against his shoulder.  
"Earl, you have to tell me the truth even if you are afraid of the consequences. I can't promise that everything will be okay, but I promise that I love you and I will do everything I can to help. Tell me, honestly, do you know who I am?" 

Earl shook his head.  
"That night you both waited up for me after work. That was the first time I saw either of you. I thought I was nineteen, expected to come home to an empty house in Night Vale."  
She released Earl and sat on the bed again.  
"Go on?"  
"The kid reached up for a hug and I knew this was my family. You went upstairs and I searched for any evidence of your identity. I found the photographs."  
"They're real. The house was real. Our life was real. In Desert Bluffs."  
"It's confusing how builders and town planners use the same layout over and over. We could be anywhere."  
"What do you want to do? I mean, we are a family but you've been... distant. I can understand why, now." 

They agreed to postpone any decisions until they knew more. In the meantime, Earl said he would move into the spare room. She nodded. Earl hugged her and said goodnight, hiding his sense of relief, not wanting to see her cry. 


	4. Scars

Earl went to work early next day. There was a lot to do for Chef Mason's new menu ideas. He started in the market when it opened at six, selecting the best and freshest ingredients for his boss, negotiating discounts and paying with a snapped _"Tourniquet account please."_  
He ruled his area of the kitchen, ordering his juniors around to prepare as much in advance as possible before guests and then paying customers arrived. _Busy, keep busy._ Earl kept his head full of timings and processes and soon it was time for Chef Mason to come to the kitchen and oversee the final stages of building his new menu before leading the procession of dishes to guests' tables.  
Earl desperately wanted to peer out into the dining room and desperately dreaded seeing an empty chair where Cecil should be. He had left word with the front of house staff that Cecil was a local celebrity in the business of news broadcasting, making it sound like the radio presenter was doing the restaurant a favour by promoting them.

Chef Mason barked instructions, receiving a volley of _yes, chef!_ replies and food was served onto fashionable but impractical boards and slates and tiles.  
Earl watched as the waiting staff came in the in-door, picked up plates and went out the out-door efficiently. Chef shouted at him, something about not standing around like a spare something-or-other. There was one dish left, a square black slate of _spiderwolf confit with rhubarb and caper foam served on a bed of sliced horseradish, garnished with crushed potatoberries._ Earl checked his apron was still clean, wiped his hands and picked up the dish, following the procession into the opulent dining room.  
He did nervous mental arithmetic as he watched the staff placing dishes in front of guests one by one and worked out who he would be serving. He smiled and locked eyes as he walked towards the last seat and placed the dish in front of Cecil.  
"Enjoy your meal, sir," Earl added a whispered _don't eat the toxic red lumpy stuff, and the white stuff on the bottom may blast your hair into space._  
Cecil smiled and moved the chair back a little to allow Earl space to drape a napkin over his furry pants. 

The evening was a success. Only two guests were hospitalised and another was considerate enough not to drop dead until after he left the premises. Chef Mason was in a dangerously good mood which infected the whole kitchen with an unprecedented level of terror.  
Earl was almost done for the night. The last customers had ordered and he removed a _griddle seared jackalope patty_ from the grill and yelled at his assistant to plate up the _open game burger with nutmeg relish and nettle stalk fries._ He turned back to the open grill, scraping the charred bits off while it was still hot to make the trainee's scrubbing job easier in the morning when it was cold. Chef Mason walked up quietly behind his favourite sous chef.  
"Earl! Good job." He clapped Earl on the back, making him fall forwards. Without thinking, Earl put his arms up to protect himself and screamed as the bare flesh of his forearms made firm contact with the burning hot grill slats.  
La Shawn barked out new orders. _COLD WATER! CLEAN SINK! YOU, CALL DOCTOR!_ He picked up still-screaming Earl, pulling his arms away from the hot surface, leaving lines of torn, blackened skin behind and carried him to the sink. He laid Earl on the worktop, face down across the sink with his arms plunging into the cold water.  
Earl lay there, his boss pushing one big hand on the back of his shoulders to keep his arms submerged, supporting his head with his other hand, talking constant reassuring phrases. Earl lay in shock, panting and shaking.  
One of the front of house staff came in to the kitchen with a customer following behind. Chef Mason got ready to yell the intruder out of the building and halfway to the next town, but the intruder ran over.  
"EARL! Oh gods, Earl, what happened? Earl?"  
The intruder cradled Earl's trembling head in his arms. Earl took a few deeper breaths.  
"Ce... Cecil? Stay with me. Please." 

Much later, after Teddy stopped by to examine Earl's injuries, declared them not life threatening and applied a brace of large non adhesive dressings fixed in place with gauze bandages, Earl stopped shaking for long enough to speak.  
"Now you know how I really got the scars."  
Cecil tried to be cheerful, bit back the questions.  
"Bums that you can't go bowling until they heal."  
Earl smiled at his friend.  
"I didn't know you waited for me."  
"I did for ages but then I saw... oh, I see what you mean. I decided to interview some of the staff and guests about the restaurant. You know, do a proper feature. I thought maybe I could offer to run it in exchange for reservations when Carlos gets back. Can I drive you home?"  
"Yes. No. I don't want to go home yet."  
"Earl, You have your family to look after you. And I have Carlos, somewhere. You have to go home." 

They stayed up for a while longer, Earl pretending that the pain was okay and Cecil pretending that he didn't notice when Earl's eyes closed and he concentrated on his breathing.  
"I think we have some things to discuss further, Cecil."  
Cecil nodded.  
"I agree. You just sustained the injury that gave you the scars I last saw on your arms well over a year ago. I hope Carlos calls soon. He might have some idea of what is going on."  
Earl followed Cecil out to his car. Chef Mason was busy with _non-fatal accident at work_ paperwork  
Cecil walked Earl to his front door. Earl couldn't use his hands well enough to get his keys from his pocket so Cecil rang the doorbell.  
"Cecil! You'll wake..."  
The door flew open. She stood there, relief flooding her face for a moment. Cecil felt suddenly hot.  
"Earl! Thank the glowcloud. I was so worried that you were not coming home."  
She noticed the figure behind Earl, trying to hide behind her husband, not making eye contact.  
"YOU!" 


	5. Serious Thinking

Cecil bolted.  
"Hi, umm, got to go, you know, phone Carlos..."  
He actually ran for his car as her wrath followed after him. 

Earl held up his bandaged arms.  
"There was an accident. Cecil looked after me."  
Her voice was dry and flat.  
"I bet he did."  
"He was there for La Shawn's new menu promotion. You know. Not for personal reasons."  
 _Shit, lying to my wife already._  
"Later, honey, when you've read the bedtime story... I can hear her awake again... I might pour you a drink and bring this up again for an hour or two."  
"But it's a school night... Oh. It's storytime then." 

Earl really tried to explain. He told everything about his memories of being nineteen and crushing on Cecil, Cecil being missing for decades while Earl remained nineteen. Europe, folks said. Travelling. Suddenly finding he was older, responsible, married.  
She sighed.  
"I sometimes wish I knew less. But I know _you_ even if you don't know me well. I know this is hard for you."  
Earl felt her hands on his face.  
"Remember it's hard for me too, honey. I had a husband and now I have someone who looks the same but can’t remember me. Goodnight"  
She let him go without a kiss. 

Cecil went home, calming down once he realised that Mrs Harlan wasn't following him. They had known each other forever but had never been close. When Earl mentioned a wife, he hadn't troubled Cecil with a name or a description.  
He left a message for Carlos, hoping that their timelines were not too far out of sync. Sometimes a day for Cecil was a week for Carlos. He relished those times when he would get a call every few hours.  
Other times were the opposite and Carlos, calling almost daily and texting every few hours, would be out of touch for days from Cecil's reference frame.  
It was one of those other times. Carlos hadn't called for a week and his last text was two days ago. So he had to call soon, right? Unless... No, he would call soon.  
Cecil was holding his phone, fruitlessly willing it to ring when the doorbell made him jump up.  
 _Carlos? Please be ..._  
He flung open the door.  
"Earl! What are you doing here?" 

"Can I come in?"  
Cecil stood aside, door held open wide.  
"Of course! Are you okay?"  
"Not really, Cecil."  
Earl dumped his bag on the floor. Cecil looked at it then back at Earl.  
"Guest room is first on the left at the top of the stairs. There are spare towels in the cupboard in the bathroom. Want a drink? Urgh, I have _plenty"_  
"I want to know what is going on, Cecil, but in the meantime a drink and a bed for the night will be enough. Thank you."  
As Earl trudged upstairs, Cecil's phone rang. 

"Carlos! Oh Carlos, it is so good to hear your voice. It has been so long. What? Yes. Ummm, let me count, the last time was... yes... so that makes it... nine days. I miss you."  
Earl came down to the living room, realised he was intruding and tried to slip out again.  
"Carlos? You have to hear this story."  
Earl felt a grip on his shirt pull him back into the living room, a hand steer him to the sofa. Cecil signalled one-handed to him to stay and left the room, returning moments later with two glasses in one hand and a half-full bottle of armagnac under his elbow. He set the glasses and bottle in front of Earl. Earl poured generously, still uncomfortable about eavesdropping on Cecil's half of the conversation.  
"I know Carlos, I know you are. I love you. Yes, there is someone here, I have a guest tonight. Do you remember scoutmaster Earl Harlan? Yes, that's the one. Scout ceremony, army of dead-eyed, mute children... void... Yep, he's back. He says he has scars that match the ones you found on my head that one time and..."  
Cecil sat down, picked up his glass, had a sip, set it down and locked gaze with Earl.  
"I really need you here, Carlos, this needs _science._ "  
"Yes, okay, I can do that."  
Cecil smiled at Earl and passed him the phone.  
"Carlos wants to talk to you." 

Earl talked and listened and confirmed or denied parts of his story, adding in little details when prompted. Eventually he passed the phone back and Cecil laughed at Carlos enthusing about how scientifically interesting Earl was. Cecil left Earl in the living room and went upstairs so that he and Carlos could say goodnight properly.  
Earl thought about what Carlos had told him.  
 _If you don't remember being a scout as a teenager and you have old re-education scars like Cecil's you can form your own conclusion about that._  
 _If you don't remember being a scout leader as an adult then perhaps you have not been a scout leader yet._  
 _Even Cecil knows that you can't have just gotten burn scars that he remembers you having over a year ago. Earl, how much do you know about time in Night Vale?_  
 _I think you have reached the correct conclusion, Earl, you have not been a scout master, have not been carried off into the void. But that does not mean that it won't happen to you, or that it will happen. It has already happened from Cecil’s point of view. And mine. But perhaps you are a different Earl._  
 _By the way, I’m really happy that you two got together. I mean... not you and Cecil obviously, I would not be happy about that. Did Cecil tell you they rarely speak? How old is Janice in your timeline? I have some very serious and scientific thinking to do before I call Cecil next. Umm, for no reason, do you know a man called Steve...?_  
Earl had some serious thinking to do too. 


	6. Reconciled

He said goodnight to Cecil and went to bed to lie awake. His arms itched and his thoughts squirmed and wormed into him.  
He loved his daughter. His choice of wife was less surprising than her complete lack of any mention that she had a brother, but he saw the family resemblance now he knew to look for it. They had a heated, hissed discussion after Cecil dropped him off and ran away.  
 _”What’s going on? We moved so that you would never have to see him again. You were better, fixed. I thought it would be safe to come home. You might see him around but not make anything of it. Then he… what, runs into you?”_  
 _”He saw my name and remembered me from a different time. He asked to see me at the restaurant. I saw him and all I could remember was graduation…”_  
 _”Stop! Just stop. How many times have you seen him since we moved? I don’t want to think about it. If I am in danger of losing you to my brother then you had better pack now and go quickly.”_  
 _”But I’m not in love with Cecil!”_  
 _”Are you in love with me?”_  
In response, Earl had studied the walls, the floor, the air itself. Anything but look at those eyes and see Cecil looking back at him. He did not know how things could get any worse. He had probably lost his family, he was staying over with a man who was painfully and obviously in love with someone else. 

Cecil sat downstairs a little longer, avoiding the awkwardness of bumping into Earl between bedroom and bathroom. When he heard the guest room door close, he waited a few more minutes then went upstairs.  
Cecil also lay awake for a while, but the reassuring sounds of another human presence in the house helped him to a better night’s sleep than usual. 

Cecil woke first and slunk down to the kitchen for coffee. Earl appeared an hour later.  
"Sleep okay?"  
Earl raised his eyebrows at Cecil.  
"No. The itch from my bandages, the pain from my burns and the thought of losing my daughter kind of kept me awake."  
"But not the thought of losing your wife?"  
"Cecil, I can't do this. Thanks for putting me up."  
Earl left the room. Cecil listened as his feet stomped upstairs. 

Earl turned to leave Cecil's guest room but found his exit blocked by his friend.  
"I'm sorry, that was a stupid thing I said."  
Silence. Eyes on the wall.  
"Please stay a while. I just got my friend back. I don't want to lose you again."  
Silence. Accidental flicker of eye contact. That was all it took. Earl dropped his bag and sat on the bed. He curled up around himself and lay sobbing quietly as Cecil sat beside him and laid a grounding hand on his shoulder.  
Earl fell asleep. Cecil cocooned him with the other half of the bedspread and went back downstairs, stuck a note to the fridge door and left the house. 

She opened the door, scowling.  
"You."  
He nodded.  
"Me. Can we talk?"  
"About...?"  
"Family."  
She sighed without softening but stood aside.  
"Come in." 

"How's Janice taking it? I remember her being older."  
"She's too young to know what's happening."  
"I wish I'd known about you and Earl. Before, I mean. The alternative... urgh."  
"What the fuck, Cecil?"  
"It's just... we never talk, really. We never have. I think we should, even if we would rather break into the Dog Park to eat macaroni sandwiches."  
She couldn't help smiling at her brother.  
"Okay. Talk if you want. I may or may not listen."  
They talked and listened. Mostly they talked about Earl. 

Earl jumped as Cecil's front door banged.  
"Hey, Earl, look who's here."  
Janice reached for daddy.  
Two faces, so similar, watched for his reaction.  
Earl hugged his daughter, avoided looking at his wife and his brother in law.  
"There has to be a way through this. Honey, Cecil, help me find it."


	7. Time Spent

Earl stayed with Cecil for a while. They looked after Janice when her mother was at work and those were the days Earl looked forward to, taking turns to push his girl through the park, agree who would take her to school and pick her up again, mock-argue with Cecil about whether or not a veal and vanilla sundae with extra sprinkles counted as a suitable dinner for a growing girl.  
On one after-school-but-before-work walk, making the most of their time with Janice before Earl went to the restaurant and Cecil went to the radio station, Earl asked again for information. 

“What happens to Janice? The Janice you knew before?”  
Cecil sighed, considered his reply.  
“I didn’t know you were her father. I should have recognised you in her, her eyes and her attitude mark her as yours. She had a stepfather.”  
“So she’s okay? Cared for, I mean?”  
“Yes. I don’t get to see her much. There was a time when Carlos and I looked after her sometimes but that has stopped. I think my sister trusted _Uncle Carlos_ but not me, now he’s gone...”  
Earl reached over and pulled Cecil into a brief one-armed hug.  
“Who is the stepfather? When did he turn up?”  
Cecil shook his head and asked Janice which flavour of ice cream she wanted today. 

Late that night, over too much Armagnac, Earl tried again.  
“Is the Janice you know, the older one, still here?”  
“Uh, yes, she lives with her mom and stepdad. I don’t see them.”  
“Where do they live?”  
“Earl, I can’t… It would be a really bad idea. Carlos said so.”  
“Oh. Well, if _Carlos_ said it then it must be correct.”  
“Earl!”  
“Sorry, Cecil, I know he’s right. But I really want to see how my little girl turns out, see if her stepdad is…”  
Earl shrugged.  
“He’s not you, but he loves her. She could do worse.” 

Earl continued to stay with Cecil after his no-fault, uncontested divorce. Cecil reasoned with him that it was cheaper for them both, he liked having someone else in the house and, after a long phone call where Earl felt like he was being cross-examined, Carlos reminded Earl that he could see them sometimes in the picture frame in the lighthouse then said he was happy that Cecil had a friend to make him eat more and drink less.  
Earl found that he couldn’t help liking Carlos, although he wanted to resent him. When Carlos called Cecil, sometimes Cecil left the room and shut himself away, returned later with a quiet smile. Sometimes Cecil spoke for a few minutes then handed Earl the phone. On those occasions, Earl would report on Cecil’s health and state of mind then ask Carlos if he had any helpful scientific discoveries about his situation. 

During the most recent call, Carlos gave him news.  
"I think I can see a way back to your own timeline, Earl, but it is dangerous."  
"What if I want to stay in this timeline? Carlos, don't you want me to look after Cecil until you are back home?"  
"Of course I do, but I've been thinking..."  
"It's what you do."  
"It could be even more dangerous if you stay too long. Any temporal anomaly can cause the light to return. I can see the horizon growing lighter since you arrived. It is slow but definite. You will need some help from Erika. Earl, Cecil has told me about the scout badges you and he got. Those cover some of the skills you need..."  
"You think I need to be a scout? Carlos, I have no idea how old I really am. There's no way I can join the scouts."  
"You could, if you could break through your re-education and remember, or re-learn your skills. There must be records of you as a scout that would confirm your identity and your previous qualifications. You could rejoin as a leader."  
There was a thoughtful pause.  
"What is the last thing you remember about being nineteen and the first thing you remember about not being nineteen any more?" 

It took another few phone calls to sort out details of what Earl had to do. Neither he nor Carlos mentioned anything to Cecil, by silent agreement he was aware only that Earl's chats with Carlos were getting longer and leaving him in a quiet mood.  
Once he understood Carlos's concerns and spoke with Josie, Erika, Erika and Erika, he booked a day off, talked to his ex-wife, and spent it with Janice and Cecil.  
They did everything Janice asked to do. Park. Swings. Ice cream. Park. Swings. Push faster, daddy, higher. Cartoons. Burgers. Story. Another story. A scary story from Uncle Cecil. More cartoons I'm scared now.  
Once Janice was safely asleep in Earl's room, he sat with a glass of wine, an unhappy expression and Cecil. 

"Cecil. I have to..."  
"Leave. I know. I always knew this was too good to last. Carlos said..."  
"How long have you known?"  
Cecil smiled and refilled their glasses.  
"Officially? Since Carlos told me yesterday. Unofficially? Since the day Carlos said he was okay with you living here." 

That night, Earl and Cecil climbed the stairs together and Earl slowly opened the door to his room, careful to avoid waking his sleeping daughter. Cecil took his hand, put a finger over his lips and led him to his own room. They spoke in whispers.  
 _I know you have to go tomorrow. Josie said I should prepare to lose you again._  
 _Cecil, I shouldn't be in here. Does Carlos know?_  
 _Carlos trusts me and he is right to. So should you. I just want... I wish..."_  
 _"What?"_  
 _"I wish that you could stay and Carlos could come back and... you would be friends. I know it."_  
Cecil slept comforted by the presence of a friend. Earl lay awake wondering of Carlos was watching.  
In the lighthouse, Carlos wondered if their timelines were close enough to call and say it was okay, he would understand. 


	8. Home is where the heart is.

Earl woke up to find Cecil watching him from the other side of the bed.  
"Mmmf. Good morning."  
Cecil smiled.  
"It's early. Janice is fast asleep. She wanted up at three a.m. but slept after a story. Not a scary one."  
"Uh? You should've woken me. I'd've seen to her."  
"You looked peaceful. I didn't want to disturb you."  
"Thanks, Cecil."  
Earl reached a hand out, hesitated, thought better of it and pulled away again.  
"Earl, it's okay."  
Cecil scooted over into Earl's space and hugged him tightly. Earl wrapped his arms around his friend and kissed his forehead.  
"I know." 

They lay together in comfortable quiet for minutes.  
"What happens today?"  
Earl sighed.  
"I take Janice to school like normal, her mom will collect her."  
"You know what I mean."  
"I go to Josie's house. She and Erika will try to help me to remember and help me to go home. Carlos will watch from his lighthouse if he can. Cecil..."  
"Mmm?"  
"Will you come to Josie's with me? Say goodbye?" 

Cecil squeezed tighter.  
"Of course I will. I'll miss you. Again. You will see me in your own timeline but Carlos said there is no guarantee that I will see you again in mine. I would like for you to be able to stay."  
"You really miss Carlos, don't you?"  
Earl rubbed Cecil's back as his shoulders tightened a little. Cecil didn't ask how he knew to do _that_ just _there._  
"Yes. At least we get to talk and sometimes he can manifest, but prefers not to. I think it takes too much out of him. I miss..." _This. I miss physical closeness. Was that what his strange text was about?_  
 _I will not be in the lighthouse overnight xoxo_  
"I miss him a lot. Umm, Earl?"  
"Hmmm?"  
"Is something wrong still wrong if you have permission?" 

"Cecil... whatever it is, please don't confirm or deny my suspicions. If you have to ask you already know the answer."  
"That's what I thought."  
"It's not that I don't want to, it just wouldn't make either of us feel any better."  
"We'd feel completely awesome for a few minutes."  
"And then the regret and the guilt."  
Cecil laughed.  
"So, now that's out of the way, are you going to tell me about our graduation after-party?"  
Earl snorted, kissed Cecil softly on the lips and got out of bed, quickly wrapping up in Cecil's robe. He called from the landing.  
"Stay in bed if you like. I'll bring coffee." 

They propped themselves up on pillows and sipped coffee after Earl slipped back into bed.  
"It was over a century ago as far as I can tell. Make allowances for that, I can't remember every detail. There was a crate of orange milk and after everyone else went home we sat out, told dirty jokes and yelled insults at the moon.  
"I finally found the courage to tell you about all those times we'd been camping and I wanted to... SHIT!"  
"You wanted to... what?"  
"Cecil, I can remember camping trips with you."  
"Oh? We went camping? I mean, I know but I don't remember."  
"Yes! We were scouts. I know you know but I didn't know I knew until now... Oh!"  
"What? Come on Earl, I want the story!"  
"I was wrong. Graduation wasn't the first time I... we..."  
Earl put his mug down, turned and took Cecil's mug from him and put it on the nightstand. He cupped Cecil 's face with both hands and kissed him, gently at first then harder as Cecil responded and reached for him. There was only one thing that would stop him as memories of Cecil, his Cecil, came crashing back.  
"Daddy?... Daddy?... DAAAADDYYYY?" 

Earl groaned. Cecil giggled. They pulled apart.  
"I think your daughter deserves an award for perfect timing."  
"COMING SWEETIE!"  
Cecil laughed.  
"Or not."  
"Cecil!"  
Earl laughed. He kissed Cecil once more before getting out of bed. Cecil listened to Janice chattering happily at Earl, texted good morning to Carlos then got up to join them.  
 _Good morning my love. There would have been nothing to see._  
In the desert, sitting with his back against the outer wall of the lighthouse, Carlos almost cried with the unexpected intensity of his relief. 

Later, over iced tea and corn muffins at Josie's house, Erika told Earl what they needed. He called his ex-wife and ex-brother-in-law and left the same message, bring your bloodstones to Josie's house. At four p.m. they were assembled in the basement: Josie, Earl, his ex-wife carrying Janice, Cecil, Erika and Erika.  
Erika supervised while Erika arranged the bloodstones without seeming to touch them. Josie stepped in and out of the pattern, muttering things like _too damn close_ and _whatcha tryin'a shift, an elephant?_ and, eventually, _that oughta do it._ She stepped back.  
"Ah'll be in the kitchen. These things gimme headaches. G'luck, Earl."  
Josie went up the narrow stone steps to the trapdoor in the ceiling. She looked down once fondly at Erika as she closed it. 

The only light now emanated from Erika's phosphorescent skin patches. They each took one of Earl's arms and led him to the bloodstone pattern, carefully lifting him into the centre.  
"Cecil? Are you there? I can't see anything."  
"I'm here, Earl."  
"I lo.."  
There was nothing. No flash of light, no sound, just a sudden absence.  
Erika brightened, directing the gentle glow to Janice and her mother. They spoke.  
"You must also go home."  
She nodded, carrying Janice over to the bloodstones, stepping in assisted only by the soft phosphorescence. She gave her brother the briefest of smiles before she vanished.  
Erika and Erika carefully reorganised the bloodstones into a small circle, handing a bag of stones to Cecil and stowing a bagful on a shelf. 

Cecil trudged back upstairs and knocked on the trapdoor. Josie opened it and helped him up.  
"They can't."  
"What?"  
"What you're on the pointa thinkin'. Fetch your Carlos home."  
"Oh."  
"Earl and his fam'ly were in the wrong time, that's all. Your man's in the wrong place too. Erika can't get a fix on 'im. Glowcloud knows they've tried. They need help, a way in and out, like the door they brought you through."  
"Oh."  
"We're sorry. And no, they won't take you back to warn 'im. Say that always makes it worse. Your man's got a job to do yet." 

Earl woke up because it was light. He looked up and saw sand coloured canvas. He put on the clothes next to his sleeping bag. Khakis, shirt, scarf and a sash crusted with patches. It felt _right_. He looked at his forearms, at the old scars. They had been purple last time he looked, now white and silver. _What will I tell the boys this time? Escaping a dragon?_ He grinned and stepped out of the tent.  
"GOOD MORNING SCOUTS! LAST UP'S A LOSER!" 

Janice looked at the strange man. She hadn't decided to like him yet, he wasn't daddy.  
"Hey sweetie!"  
She frowned.  
"Hey Janice, my name is Steve. I'm a friend of your mom. Look, here she is!"  
Janice giggled as mom swept her up for a kiss then turned to kiss the strange man. Maybe he was okay. 

Earl got home to an empty apartment after seeing the scouts safely back to their loved ones. He turned on the radio.  
 _"A new man came into town today. Who is he? What does he want from us? Why his perfect and beautiful..."_  
He turned the radio off again and wept quietly into the darkness. 


End file.
